New Orleans council makes permanent zoning law change to limit 'doubles to dorms' spread

7612-14 Burthe is one of about 50 on a list of properties designated as a doubles-to-dorms conversions.(Town of Carrollton Watch)

Greg LaRose WDSU News October 8, 2021

The New Orleans City Council made a permanent change to city zoning laws Thursday aimed at curbing the spread of "doubles-to-dorms" conversions near the Uptown universities. A new overlay district council members approved unanimously will require a parking space for every bedroom added through a renovation in an area that stretches from the Loyola and Tulane campuses to residential portions of neighborhoods west of Carrollton Avenue.

The overlay district replaces and expands an interim zoning district in effect since early 2020. Neighbors pushed for the change after seeing dozens of single- and double-family homes turned into student housing. Some properties have seen their layouts go from three or four bedrooms to upwards of a dozen.

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Neighbors have reached out to the city's permitting office for months to point out when developers have submitted architectural plans that call for an additional "office" or "media room" that turned out to be an additional bedroom. Councilman Joe Giarrusso, who represents the area that includes the overlay district, included a specific definition for "bedroom" in his amendment to the city's comprehensive zoning ordinance.

The City Planning Commission recommended that the council deny the change to the CZO. In their notes to the council, commissioners said the overlay district's parking space requirement would create "out-of-scale, suburban-style development that encourages the automobile." The new policy would also discriminate against renters, according to city planners.

The change to the CZO includes language that excludes affordable housing developments, as well as commercially zoned properties, from its requirements. Proponents insist the proliferation of doubles to dorms has replaced affordable rental units with a greater density of high-priced dwellings marketed to the transient college student population.

Giarrusso highlighted a conversion on Burthe Street that took a single-family home with two bedrooms, one bathroom and 910 square feet of living area and ended with 12 bedrooms, four bathrooms covering 2,840 square feet. Two of the bedrooms in the architectural layout were labeled as offices, he said.

"Most offices that are connected to bathrooms, in my world, are called bedrooms," Giarrusso said.

The councilman's presentation on the zoning law change also included a realtor's social media post that promoted their work with developers who purchased a double near the universities. Their plans increased the bedroom count from five to eight while adding 1,000 more square feet of living area. According to the realtor's post, the new owners leased both units within a week of closing on the sale even before the renovations had started.

Giarrusso estimated monthly rent per unit for the original double in the range of $1,500 to $2,000, or between $18,000 and $24,000 a year. The new leases will generate $96,000 in rent per year, the realtor's post said.

"These dorms increase rental rates, they decrease affordability," Giarrusso said. "They also ensure prices are higher for homes that are purchased in the area, which also leads to higher taxes."

Maxwell Ciardullo with the Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center appeared before the council to oppose the CZO change. He said the organization's concern was that the overlay district would stifle the development of new units and make the area more unaffordable.

The Home Builders Association of Greater New Orleans also expressed their opposition in writing to the council.

Longtime Maple Street resident Carroll Grevemberg was among several residents who spoke in support of the overlay district. Most shared complaints about the impact of an exponential increase of itinerant students living next door.

"What happened to the single-family who lived next door to me? I miss them," Grevemberg said. "They've been replaced with a vulgar mix of disrespectful, loud 'Animal House' personalities."

Teddy Martin told council members she lives a block away from four bars near the universities and has gotten used to being in such close proximity.

"But this doubles to dorms is ridiculous," Martin said. "...I'm all in favor of affordable housing, but this ain't it."